Mr. Belvedere

1985 - 1990

Marsha and George Owens need someone to take care of the household chores and look after their kids so they can focus on their busy careers, and their prayers are answered when Mr. Belvedere, a snooty Englishman with the sensitbilities of Mary Poppins, shows up at their door. Based on the novel, Belvedere, by Gwen Davenport.

Stars: Christopher Hewett, Ilene Graff, Bob Uecker, Rob Stone, Tracy Wells, Brice Beckham
Created by: Frank Dungan, Jeff Stein

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Episode Tropes

Season 1

FOMO: Episode 2, "The Outcasts" (1985). Wesley is pissed because his friend, Howie, invited everyone in their class to his birthday party except Wesley and three other kids, so Mr. Belvedere suggests Wesley have is own party and invite the other misfits from class. During the dismal party, Howie calls and asks where Wesley is. Apparently he was invited, so Wesleys peaces out and goes to the cool party after all.
Billy Elliot: Episode 3, "Gotta Dance" (1985). After Wesley watches a ballet on TV with Mr. Belvedere, he decides he wants to learn ballet, much to George's disappointment.

Season 2

Allergic to You: Episode 1, "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" (1985). George has suddenly developed a snoring problem that's keeping Marsha up all night, but when Mr. Belvedere goes away for the weekend, George doesn't snore at all, and when he comes back, so does George's snoring, so George concludes he's allergic to Mr. Belvedere.
Drop Dead: Episode 4, "Requiem" (1985). Wesley's accordion teacher gets frustrated with his lack of practice, yells at him, and drops dead, and Wesley blames himself because he had secretly wished something bad would happen to his teacher.
Surprise Delivery: Episode 5, "Delivery" (1985). Kevin is working on a school project with his pregnant friend, Robin, when she suddenly goes into labor with no time to get to the hospital, so George and Mr. Belvedere have to delivery her baby in the Owens family living room.
Will You Marry Me Again?: Episode 7, "Vows" (1985). George and Marsha's wedding anniversary is coming up, and the kids decide to plan a vow renewal for them.
Homemade Wedding Vows: Episode 7, "Vows" (1985). Marsha insists that she and George write their own vows for their anniversary vow renewal.
On Strike: Episode 8, "Vows" (1985). The newspaper where George works goes on strike for over a month, forcing the family to tighten their purse strings.
Playing the Market: Episode 9, "The Letter" (1985). George tells Mr. Belvedere he's thinking of investing in the stock market, so Mr. Belvedere challenges him to see who makes the most money off of their investment.
Let's Pretend We're Married: Episode 12, "Speechless" (1986). Kevin and a girl from his class named Wendy pretend to be a married couple for a school assignment, and Wendy starts taking it a little too seriously.
Electric Dreams: Episode 13, "The Teacher" (1986). Wesley thinks Mr. Belvedere is lonely, so he and Heather sign him up for a computer dating service to help him find a girlfriend.
Giving Things Up Competition: Episode 15, "Rivals" (1986). The family wants George to quit smoking, so George challenges Mr. Belvedere to give up sweets, and whoever can abstain from his vice the longest, wins.
Where There's a Will: Episode 17, "The Will" (1986). When a friend of theirs passes away, Marsha tells George they should make out a will, but George doesn't even want to think about it.
Requited Love: Episode 18, "Valentine's Day" (1986). A girl in Wesley's new new advanced class is relentlessly flirting with him, and Wesley's terrified. Mr. Belvedere tells him to pretend to return her advances and she'll stop, so Wesley starts dressing fancier and acts like her, and she's just as interested as ever.
Catfish: Episode 18, "Valentine's Day" (1986). Heather tells George upset because she hasn't received any cards for Valentine's Day, and the very next day, she receives a mysterious candygram from a secret admirer. At Wesley's Valentine's Day dance, George dances with Heather and confesses he sent the card. At first, Heather is horrified, but eventually she forgives him.
Prank War: Episode 19, "Heather's Tutor" (1986). After Wesley accidentally walks across the Hoefnagels' newly-paved driveway, the Owenses start a prank war with them that involves lots of unordered takeout, a Mariachi band, and "For Sale" signs on the Hoefnagels' lawn, and ends with the Hoefnagles blocking the Owenses' front door with a brick wall.
Amish Paradise: Episode 20, "Amish" (1986). Kevin meets an Amish girl, and they fall for each other. He wants to move to Lancaster and become Amish to be with her, but she wants to leave Lancaster to become "English" like him.
Inappropriate Violins: Episode 21, "Dinner for Two" (1986). George plans a surprise romantic dinner for him and Marsha, but she runs out to study for a exam, so George invites Mr. Belvedere to join him for dinner instead. As they're finishing up, a violinist comes to the door and plays romantic music for them.
We'll Put on a Musical: Episode 22, "The Play" (1986). Mr. Belvedere steps in to direct Wesley's school musical, HMS Pinafore, when Wesley gives the previous director a nervous breakdown.

Season 3

Near Death Experience: Episode 3, "Debut" (1986). George almost dies when he drops a TV into the bathtub while taking a bath, and he changes his whole perspective on life. He quits his job because he doesn't think sports matter anymore.
One and Done: Episode 3, "Debut" (1986). After a near death experience, George quits his job to fulfill his dream of being a lounge singer, but he decides his first performance will be his last and goes back his normal life.
Green Card: Episode 7, "Deportation: Part 2" (1986). When Immigration arrests Mr. Belvedere for not having a valid work visa, Wesley finds a prostitute who agrees to marry Mr. B so he can stay in the country, but Mr. B turns her down.
See You in Court: Episode 7, "Deportation: Part 2" (1986). Mr. Belvedere gets arrested by Immigration for working without a visa, and he has to go to court and try to convince the judge to let him stay in the country.
School Reunion: Episode 8, "The Reunion" (1986). George is going to his class reunion, but Marsha can't make it because she's going to a law symposium, so he takes Mr. Belvedere with him.
Risky Business: Episode 8, "The Reunion" (1986). While George, Marsha, and Mr. Belvedere are out of town, and Kevin and Heather are out of the house, Wesley let's loose with a Risky Business dance.
Milwaukee: Episode 8, "The Reunion" (1986). While at a hotel in Johnstown for his class reunion, George hits it off with his high school crush, Donna, invites her back to his room, and kisses her. Meanwhile Mr. Belvedere does his best to remind George of his wife and kids back home.
Drug PSA: Episode 10, "Pills" (1986). Heather gets ahold of some prescription diet pills to lose three pounds. When Marsha finds out, she takes the pills away, then starts acting very strangely. Heather figures out that Marsha has been taking the pills, and she and Mr. Belvedere try to convince Marsha to stop.
Who Brings a Dog to a Leg Funeral: Episode 12, "Inky" (1987). Wesley pretends his hamster, Inky, died to convince his parents to get him a dog. He even goes so far as to get the family to attend a funeral for Inky in the backyard with Marsha singing "Amazing Grace."
See You in Court: Episode 14, "The Ticket" (1987). Kevin gets a ticket for going through a stop sign because branches were covering the sign, and Marsha insists on going to court with him to fight it, but her overzelousness gets Kevin's license suspended.
The Education of a Jock: Episode 16, "The Competition" (1987). Heather meets a football player in her ballet class, and she agrees to tutor him in history so he won't get cut from the team.
Election: Episode 22, "The Auction" (1987). Heather and Angela run against each other for class treasurer, and Angela is worried she doesn't have a chance against Angela, so Wesley decides to help her with her campaign.

Season 4

What a Dummy: Episode 1, "The Initiation" (1987). Wesley wants to be in his school's talent show, but he doesn't have a talent besides playing the accordian, so he decides to learn ventriliquism and makes a dummy version of Mr. Belvedere.

Character Tropes

Sassy Butler: Mr. Lynn Belvedere - Played by Christopher Hewett.